Conventional glass sheet tempering involves heating a glass sheet to about 1150.degree. F. in a glass sheet heating furnace and transferring the glass sheet to a quenching station where quenching air is rapidly applied to the glass sheet to quickly cool and temper the glass sheet. The strength of the tempered glass is increased two to five times that of ordinary sheet glass.
Glass sheet heating furnaces require a substantial capital investment and also require extensive maintenance. Conventional systems which include such a heating station and a cooling station are expensive and make the establishment of small scale tempering operations cost prohibitive.